Giresun was the worst affected city and was declared a disaster zone by the government after the heavy rain in late July resulted in widespread flooding, inundating over 100 homes with water for the second time. The adverse weather came before the city had had a chance to recover from the previous severe flooding.
In most areas, traffic was greatly affected and many homes and businesses were flooded; however, no loss of life was reported. Intermittent rain and mudslides are continuing to complicate municipal efforts to control the damage.
Although the mayor of Giresun, Kerim Aksu, blamed the coastal highway for being a barrier between the city and the sea causing the flood, experts ruled out his claim saying that poor city planning was a primary reason for the flood which paralyzed the city. Experts said the real culprits were poor infrastructure and construction too close to riverbanks.
Professor Mehmet Çakıroğlu, the dean of Ondokuz Mayıs University's department of architectural engineering said the coastal highway has little effect on flooding. “While the road does constitute a barrier between the city and the sea, this was taken into consideration during its construction,” he said.
Another academic, Hızır Önsoy, a professor at the Black Sea Technical University's department of architectural engineering, also expressed his disagreement with the suggestions that the coastal highway played a major role in the Giresun disaster. “The root cause of the flooding is construction on riverbanks and the municipality's failure to seek scientific consultation prior to construction,” Önsoy claimed.
